A welcome bonus is a promotion offered only to new customers, usually linked to a first deposit and sometimes spread over several deposits with free spins included. Bonus funds normally carry wagering requirements, meaning a set amount must be staked before related winnings can be withdrawn. Limits on games, bet size, time and maximum winnings are common. None of this changes the house edge on the games themselves.
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What a welcome bonus is
A welcome bonus is an incentive for opening a new account. It can take the form of bonus funds matched to a deposit, free spins, a small credit with no deposit needed, or a bundle of these released in stages.
The headline figure describes the most a customer could receive. It says very little about what the bonus is actually worth, which depends on the conditions.
How multi-part packages work
Packages are sometimes split across several deposits, each with its own match rate, cap, free spins, wagering requirement and expiry date. Each stage is effectively a separate promotion with separate terms.
That structure matters. A deposit made to trigger a later stage is a new decision to spend money, and its conditions may differ from the first stage.
Regulators have started to limit how packages can be built. In Great Britain, the Gambling Commission banned promotions that require customers to take part in more than one type of gambling, such as betting and slots, from 19 January 20261. Rules in other markets vary.
Wagering requirements
A wagering requirement, also called playthrough, sets how much must be staked before bonus-related winnings can be withdrawn. The UK Gambling Commission illustrates it this way: a £10 bonus with a 50 times requirement means staking £5001. From 19 January 2026, it capped wagering requirements at 10 times for operators it licenses1.
Two details decide how large the requirement really is: the multiple, and whether it applies to the bonus alone or to the deposit and bonus together.
Worked example
Assume a 100% match on a $100 deposit, giving $100 in bonus funds, with a 30 times wagering requirement.
| Requirement applies to | Calculation | Total stakes required |
|---|---|---|
| Bonus only | $100 × 30 | $3,000 |
| Deposit and bonus | $200 × 30 | $6,000 |
Now add the house edge. The expected loss from staking a sum is that sum multiplied by the house edge2. On games with a 4% house edge:
- $3,000 in stakes has an expected loss of $120, which is more than the $100 bonus.
- $6,000 in stakes has an expected loss of $240.
These are long-run averages, not predictions. Individual sessions can finish well above or below them.
Common restrictions
- Maximum bet: a cap on stake size while bonus funds are active. Exceeding it can void the bonus and related winnings. The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has said restrictions on the size of bets must be made clear3.
- Game weighting: some games count only partly towards wagering, or not at all. The page on deposit bonus terms shows how weighting multiplies the stakes needed.
- Expiry: separate time limits for claiming the bonus and for completing wagering.
- Maximum cashout: a ceiling on how much can be withdrawn from bonus winnings.
- Eligibility: new customers only, one offer per person or household, and sometimes exclusions for certain payment methods.
Red flags in the terms
The CMA's guidance gives a useful benchmark. It says customers should be free to walk away at any time and keep what is left of their deposit and the winnings earned from it3, and that firms should not attach complicated or unfair play restrictions to deposits4.
Terms that fall short of that deserve caution:
- Wagering attached to your deposit, with no option to give up the bonus and withdraw your own money.
- Clauses that let the operator cancel winnings for "irregular play" without defining it.
- Terms that can be changed after you have accepted the offer. The CMA says a free bet deal should not change once play has started4.
- An offer described as "free" or "risk-free" even though a deposit is required. UK advertising guidance says an offer should not be called free if customers must risk their own money to qualify5.
- Significant conditions, such as wagering and time limits, that are hard to find instead of being shown clearly with the offer5.
Why a bonus does not overcome the house edge
Bonus money does not change the probabilities or payouts of any game. A slot with a 96% RTP has the same theoretical return whether a stake comes from your deposit or from a bonus balance.
What wagering does is require extra turnover, and every unit staked carries the house edge. The higher the requirement, the more of the bonus that expected loss consumes, as the example above shows.
For the underlying maths, read our guide to bonus wagering and what house edge means.
If gambling is causing harm. Losses cannot be recovered by playing more, and no game offers a guaranteed return. Free, confidential support is available, including services you can reach from the Maldives.